Election results – live: Boris Johnson says NHS will be priority as he reaches out to Remainers following historic win

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General election 2019: Boris Johnson arrives at Downing Street

Boris Johnson has said he will make the NHS an "overwhelming priority" during his renewed tenure in No. 10 following a political “earthquake” which which saw Labour support give way top a comfortable Tory majority.

However he has not extended the same olive branch to voters north of the border - telling Nicola Sturgeon he would not lend any support to a second independence referendum.

Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has refused to take responsibility for the worst Labour showing since 1935 - blaming Brexit for the party’s devastating defeat.

Key Points

• Johnson vows to get Brexit done 'no ifs, no buts'
• Labour figures call on Corbyn to quit immediately
• ...but Corbyn says he won't leave until 'early part of next year'
• Swinson loses seat, leading Sturgeon to celebrate wildly
• 'End of Corbynism,' claims David Cameron
• PM promises 'permanent break from talking about Brexit' in Downing Street speech
• ...while adding the 'overwhelming priority of the British people' is a 'focus... on the NHS'.

[12 December 2019 22:30 · Andrew Griffin]

Boris Johnson thanks candidates and volunteers and refers to 'greatest democracy in the world'

[12 December 2019 22:34 · Andrew Griffin]

Labour MPs react to exit poll results

[12 December 2019 22:38 · Andrew Griffin]

Labour will make 'the appropriate decisions' about leader after election results

Labour will take "appropriate decisions" with regards to the party leadership if the election results are as bad as the exit poll suggest, Jeremy Corbyn's chief lieutenant has suggested, writes Jon Stone.

In the minutes following the news that the Conservatives look on course for a large majority, John McDonnell told the BBC that the results would be "extremely disappointing".

Asked whether Mr Corbyn would resign, Mr McDonnell said: "We'll see the results in the morning and then decisions will be made, I'm sure then. Let's see the results. We'll make the appropriate decisions. We'll always make the decisions in the best interests of our party."

[12 December 2019 22:40 · Andrew Griffin]

SNP sees landslide but leader Sturgeon calls overall results 'grim'

The SNP could be set for a second landslide at Westminster, as an exit poll predicted Nicola Sturgeon's party could win 55 seats north of the border.

The joint Sky/BBC/ITV poll also forecast Boris Johnson is on course to win an overall majority of 86 in the House of Commons.

According to the forecast, the Tories could return 368 MPs to Westminster, with 191 for Labour.

The SNP would continue to be the third largest party in the Commons, with 55 MPs, the poll predicted, while Jo Swinson's Liberal democrats would have 13.

Ms Sturgeon said while the exit poll "suggests a good night" for the SNP, she added that "what it indicates UK wide though is grim".

If the SNP was to win 55 of the 59 Scottish seats up for grabs, it would be the party's second best ever result - and only one fewer MP than they secured in 2015, when they won all but three seats north of the border.

It would also be an increase of 20 on the 35 MPs that Ms Sturgeon's party returned in 2017.

The poll suggests both Labour and the Scottish Conservatives could be in for losses north of the border, with the Tories having won 13 seats two years ago, while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour secured seven Scottish MPs last time round.

[12 December 2019 22:43 · Andrew Griffin]

Brexit party leader says it played 'massive role in reducing Labour votes'

Richard Tice, the leader of the Brexit Party, has tweeted to claim credit for some of the drop in Labour votes. As well as dropping out of seats the Conservatives won to target Labour seats, the party made appeals to the party's voters.

"The BXP has clearly played a massive role in reducing Labour votes and seats, thus changing the course of political history," he tweeted.

[12 December 2019 22:44 · Andrew Griffin]

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell accepts result would be a 'catastrophe' if the exit polls are right

[12 December 2019 22:46 · Andrew Griffin]

Conservatives caution people to 'wait to see the actual results'

Just like others from across the political spectrum, the Tories are warning people to wait for the final results.

“This is a projection, not a result, it’s important we wait to see the actual results when they come in,' a Conservative spokesperson said. "What we do know is that voters have rejected Labour’s fudge on Brexit. We needed this election because parliament was doing all it could to frustrate the will of the people.

"A functioning majority would mean we can now finally end the uncertainty and get Brexit done. It would allow the country to come together and move forward by delivering the change people voted for in 2016. ”

[12 December 2019 22:47 · Andrew Griffin]

Pound soars on exit poll

Here's the latest from the Press Association on the resounding reaction from the financial markets.

The pound has soared against the dollar and the euro as an exit poll predicted a Conservative majority.

Sterling hit an 18-month high against the dollar and was in touching distance of pre-Brexit referendum levels against the euro.

A pound was up 2.21% to 1.347 dollars and up 1.38% to 1.205 euros.

Reaction from the City was one of relief, with traders previously expecting to stay up all night comfortable that the exit poll will play out.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Markets hate uncertainty but they would have hated a Corbyn government a lot more.

"This looks like a comfortable evening ahead - the margin of victory is huge and even if it is not quite as big as the exit poll indicates, the Conservatives will still have a huge majority."

An 86 majority is predicted for the Conservatives, with many in the City fearful of Labour's plans for nationalisation.

Dean Turner, an economist at UBS Wealth Management, said: "We've long said that sterling looks a very cheap currency. If Brexit is indeed completed by the end of January, we see the pound trading as high as 1.35 against the US dollar.

"However, a long-term lack of clarity on Brexit and sterling to produce minimal UK earnings growth next year."

The London Stock Exchange opens at 8am and is expected to also surge, with shares in energy, telecoms and banks expected to rise - although the strengthening pound could knock shares in internationally-focused companies.

[12 December 2019 22:52 · Andrew Griffin]

Senior Labour politicians blame Brexit and Corbyn

Discussions are already starting over whether it is Brexit or Jeremy Corbyn that are to blame for what looks to be a terrible result.

Caroline Flint – Labour's candidate in Don Valley, which is one of the seats that could be lost by the party – summarised the argument in a tweet that has since been deleted.

"We're going to hear the Corbynistas blaming it on Brexit and the Labour Uber Remainers blaming Corbyn," she wrote.

"Both are to blame for what looks like a terrible night for Labour. Both have taking for granted Labour's heartlands. Sorry we couldn't give you a Labour Party you could trust."

Corbyn supporters such as John McDonnell are suggesting that Brexit is the cause of Labour's problems.

"If it is anywhere near this it will be extremely disappointing for the party overall and for our movement," he said.

"I think Brexit has dominated, it has dominated everything by the looks of it.

"We thought other issues could cut through and there would be a wider debate, from this evidence there clearly wasn't.

But others on the right of the party are blaming Mr Corbyn.

Former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson has said if the exit poll is correct, Labour's losses are down to Mr Corbyn's unpopularity.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr Johnson said: "It's Corbyn, it's Corbyn. The Corbynistas will make an argument that victory is a bourgeois concept, that 'the only goal for true socialists is glorious bloody defeat'.

[12 December 2019 22:58 · Andrew Griffin]

Workington count 'busiest ever'

Cumbria's town of Workington, which has been hailed as a bellwether for whether the Tories could take Labor's heartland, is being busily watched by journalists. Those include The Independent's Colin Drury, who is covering the count.

"The Workington count is the busiest it’s ever been, according to officers here," he says. "Media from across the world are keen to see if Workington man does indeed go Tory - and the exit polls now suggest he may do."